Somers Settles for Tie Versus Greeley

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On Wednesday October 8, Somers hosted Greeley, and the AA rating of the Quakers had the Tuskers studying up. “We try to do our homework, and we stacked up in a defensive structure that would frustrate them,” said coach Rob Carreira, and one goal allowed made the point. But Greeley had a defensive game plan too and both teams measured up in the end.

“A tie was probably a fair result,” said Carreira after the 1-1 affair.

Stalemate didn’t just show up on the scoreboard either. The first half mostly had play stayed between the 20s as neither defense gave an inch.

The first best chance came on a miscue by Greeley’s stop gap. Jake Levy’s short goal kick was easily picked off by Harper Ritson, and the Tuskers were lining up for a corner kick moments later. Randy Contreras then lofted the ball at 24:30, and when Ritson completed the connection, Levy was fortunate to come up with a diving save.

Back the other way, Greeley could get no closer than a penalty kick. The ball launched at 22:30, there was no getting around Eduardo Ruiz’s head in the crease.

The ball cleared, the defenses retook the momentum until Ruiz stepped in again. His defensive stop got the ball to Ritson, and he fought his way through a double team before midfield. So in the clear, the tall junior threaded a pass to a streaking Trevor Keimig, and his breakaway left only Levy.

Not standing pat, Levy cut off the advance, and even though Keimig went flying, play ensued. Plenty of noise from the sidelines, the officials conferenced, and after deliberating, a penalty kick from 15 yards was awarded. Three defenders for Contreras to kick over, the forward could not squeeze the ball in and went over the crossbar.

12:50 left in the half and the stringent play reduced the chances to a minimum. Onto the second, Somers rotated in some physicality on the wing. “He’s our big guy,” said Carreira of James Brinn.

Speed too, his presence can unsettle the opposition, according to the coach, and his hard work forced two corner kicks. The second time was the charm at 33 minutes. Contreras kicking, he was true enough for Connor Sheldon. “He delivered a really nice ball,” said Sheldon, and off his head, the Tuskers were on the board.

Greeley pressed on nonetheless and kept the Somers defense busy for the next few minutes. But Braeden Gibson and Nicholas Goncalves made big stops to keep the Quakers at bay.

Another corner kick got the Somers offense going again, and it was Milan Sath who hustled between three defenders to force the action. The kick did sail past everyone, but Kenji Todo did end up with a shot on goal.

25 minutes left, Somers persisted. A long pass got Ruiz behind the Greeley defense and so did Contreras’ lead to Ritson at 22:55. Both whistled for offsides, no one on the Somers side was happy.

Of course, the Quakers didn’t mind and took the rock to their end. Refusing to leave, a lead pass gave Chappaqua a shot in the crease that resulted in a penalty. Henry Holmquist took the shot, and while Ben Baran guessed right, the deflection still ended up in the net.

Tie game with 18 minutes to go, Greeley kept up the pressure, and the 10 minute mark almost had the visitors take the lead. The ball bounced to Sam Mullen at the 20, and falling down, he swung his leg across his body for a blast off the crossbar.

Somers matched up moments later. Joseph Bojaj made a short pass to Contreras at the 15, and he also hit the high bar with six minutes to go.

The remaining big chances belonged to Greeley, though. Right in front of the goal, Jack Santilli’s shot was blocked by Ruiz, and Holmquist had nothing but net in front of him when he fell to the ground in a heap.

No call, the attacker was livid. But Carreira assured there were a few calls Somers didn’t like, and the end result still had the coach very balanced. “I’m happy and proud of the boys,” he concluded.

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